Crispin Blunt issues apology over Imran Ahmad Khan remarks

The Conservative MP who condemned the conviction of his colleague for sexual assault has now issued an apology.

Yesterday Southwark Crown Court found Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan guilty of sexually assaulting a 15 year-old boy.

Crispin Blunt MP, chair of the APPG on global LGBT+ rights, claimed that Ahmad Khan’s conviction had “dreadful wider implications for millions of LGBT+ Muslims around the world.”

Blunt’s statement has now been deleted from his website.

He did not cite any evidence to suggest why he thought the conviction was erroneous.

MPs Chris Bryant, Stewart McDonald and Joanna Cherry have all resigned from the APPG in protest of Blunt’s leadership, and have called for him to step down from the role.

Bryant has also called for the Conservative party to withdraw the whip from Blunt.

Blunt said this morning: “I am sorry that my defence of him has been a cause of significant upset and concern not least to victims of sexual offences.”

He also claimed he believed in the independence and integrity” of Britain’s justice system.

He has also said he had resigned as chair of the APPG for global LGBT+ rights.